June 23, 2022

Matthew 18:15-20 (HCSB)
Restoring a Brother
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. 17 If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you. 18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven. 19 Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”

Michael Koontz
What do you do when someone does you wrong? Are you going to them immediately and bringing this to their attention for resolution/forgiveness, or are you doing something else? If we are not going to them first, we are out of God’s plan. God gave us the steps very clearly in scripture how to handle issues and it all starts with a step that is too often ignored. Keep it private. Go to that person one on one. Sometimes we will find that the offending brother had no idea something wrong was done. Maybe it was a statement that was taken in a way it was not intended. By going privately as the first step, many issues can be resolved before talking to anyone else about it. And as our passage today tells us, this can cause us to win a brother! As Christians, we need as many of us working together as we can get. When we follow God’s way, things will always work out better than us doing it our own way that isn’t in line with God.

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